Hampshire Goes Green

Hampshire’s radio stations Ocean FM and Power FM have together launched "Green Month" in Hampshire. Throughout the month of March, the two radio stations will be asking listeners to do everything that they can to reduce the amount of power that they use. Read more about it at Hampshire's website by clicking on the linked title to this post - and see what YOU can do to help reduce power wastage - wherever you live!

Squeaking Cold!

When you walk over snow, it makes a crunching or squeaking sound, and so does frost. You might notice that when you walk on it during the daytime, it makes a lower pitched crunch than it does at night, when it is colder. The colder the temperature, the higher pitched the noise is, until it becomes a nasty squeak instead of a crunch!

Dolphins around British Coastlines

Two Bottle-nose Dolphins photographed by Vicki Murdoch

Dolphins are small whales with teeth. Some people think that they are as intelligent as we are, and there has been an affinity between man and dolphins from as long as history has been recorded. Stories of dolphins playing in the wave before a speeding ship and saving drowning sailors have been told since ancient times.

Quite why these amazing animals still try to befriend a species that betrays them so, is anybody's guess....

Maybe they have a more forgiving nature than man.

Dolphins have a built-in sonar system that allows them to "see" in the dark to find their way and food. In their head is a melon - a fatty area that sends out clicks that will bounce back when they hit something. These echoes tell the dolphin where an object is, how large it is, how large it's moving and how dense it is - rather like bat's sonar system.

Dolphins feed on fish - a habit that sometimes makes them unpopular with fishermen. They have about 100 sharp teeth in a long snout, called a beak. The shape of that beak gives many species a "smile", which adds to the attraction that they have for man. Unlike most other mammals, they don't need to drink, all of the water that they need is found in the bodies of the fish and squid that they eat. Like all toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises have just one blowhole

Dolphins live in family groups called herds, with babies staying with their mothers for many years, learning to fish and stay safe from sharks.

Look out for both Bottle-nosed and Common dolphins around British shores at any time of the year. They are most commonly seen ariound the South and West coasts, and sometimes come into the sheltered waters of bays or estuaries.

Looking Skywards

There are some beautiful views to be seen, when you point your gaze skywards. This photo was taken above my own garden, but this posting shows you where to find animated sky scenes.

The sunny days that we've been having this month led to some beautiful rainbows - if you were in the right place at the right time! If not, then maybe you might like to see a time-lapse animation of one? You'll find it at this link, on the site of Edinburgh University's Geo-science department. http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/abs/Weathercam/RainbowAnimation.html You will also find animations off various cloud formations on the same page. Fascinating!

February 2007

If you've been outside enjoying the sunshine this February, perhaps you can remember what the weather was like last February? It was a little different - as you can see from this photograph taken a year ago!

WATER - Bottled or Tap?

With bottled water costing an average 500 times more than tap water (in supermarkets water is now more expensive than beer or milk!), it is truly amazing that, as a nation, we spend close to £2 million a year on the stuff! SURELY we wouldn't do this without just cause?

One fact is that many people believe that bottled water is better for the health, if not the pocket - but Dame Yve Buckland, Chairwoman of the Consumer Council for Water Group has categorically said that there is NO health advantage to drinking bottled water. Our reason for choosing the bottle simply comes down to personal taste preferences. Another reason for our choice, surveys state, is that 1 in 5 people will ask for bottled water in restaurants for fear of looking "cheap"!

Read the full article at the link below - and then, perhaps, it is time to ask yourself if YOU and your family are drinking the right water. Remember too, the possibility that by refusing to use the tap, your family might, in fact, be drinking less water than they should!

http://style.uk.msn.com/wellbeing/healthyeating/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=7580418#

The other major concern, of course, is the cost to the environment. The plastic bottles that water comes in taking a horrifying 450 years to break down in landfill! Yes, they can be recycled - but of course only a small proportion are, and the energy used in actually collecting and recycling them is high. It's water for thought....

February 12th - The Hottest Ever!

February 12th was the hottest ever on record this year, for the UK! More than double the average temperature for February, the sun shone as brilliantly as we would expect it to in June, giving some parts of the country a temperature of 18°. The usual temperature for February is, on average, just 7°.

Experts are warning, just as we would expect, that this is another warning that climate change is happening here and now, and that British summers could be dangerously hot within the next 5 years. But how much hotter are our summers really becoming? What do readers feel? Is it possible that what we are seeing is actually more of an evening out of temperature across the seasons?

Incidentally, in 1999, January 6th was only a couple of degrees behind, at 16°, which was a record temperature since 1841. Bearing this in mind, maybe February 12th’s “heat wave” was not quite so extraordinary after all?